Take Me Back (Back to the Start)
by freyjaschariot
Summary: 4.10 companion piece. Felicity dreams about being back in Bali with Oliver.


Felicity dreamed of Bali. She dreamed of mountains carpeted in emerald forests, of turquoise water and golden sand hot beneath her feet. She dreamed of Oliver's hand, tight around hers, and of the sound of the waves lapping against the stilts of their little bungalow at night.

She dreamed of the Uluwatu temple clinging to a sheer cliffside above the gem colored sea. They spent an afternoon exploring it's shadowy recesses, fingers trailing along the sun warmed stone. As they turned a corner a monkey dashed up and yanked Felicity's sunglasses from her hands. Oliver tried to swipe them back but the monkey danced out of reach, chattering and waving the glasses victoriously.

Felicity shook her head. "Good thing Starling was never attacked by monkeys."

"I could've taken him," Oliver said grumpily. "If he hadn't run off like a coward."

Felicity patted his arm, smiling. "I know, honey. Next time."

At lunch the next day another monkey snuck up to their table and stole a french fry right out of Oliver's fingers. Felicity couldn't help but laugh. The betrayed look on his face only made her laugh harder. "Next time," she gasped, wiping her eyes. "Next time you'll get him."

They hiked to the lip of an active volcano and peered down into the caldera, where several small villages ringed a glittering lake.

"I can't believe people live up here," Felicity murmured, still breathless from the climb. A soft wind pushed towering white clouds across the sky, dragging mile long shadows across the ground below. "It's like living in the sky."

The air felt impossibly clean up there. It smelled like rain and flowers and warm dirt. Oliver pulled Felicity against his chest, neither one of them caring that they were both covered in sweat.

"It's beautiful," she said.

"Yeah," Oliver agreed, his arms tightening around her. "It is."

At night they sprawled across their bed, moonlight filtering softly through the window. Felicity's head was pillowed on Oliver's chest. His hands played unconsciously with her hair.

"Are you happy?" he asked. He asked her everyday, always with a slight hint of worry, as though she might wake up at any moment and realize what a huge mistake it had been running off with him.

Felicity propped her chin on his chest to look up at him. "I'm miserable. I hate sleeping on the beach and eating amazing food and having amazing sex. My life is awful, woe is me."

He tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. His fingers traced her cheekbones, her eyelids, her lips, memorizing her. "I just want to give you everything. You deserve the world, Felicity."

"I have everything I ever wanted. I have you." Felicity didn't care that he asked her the same thing every day. If he needed to be reassured of how she felt every day for the rest of their lives, she'd do it, happily. _I love you, Oliver. I love you. I love you. I love you._

When he rolled on top of her, her thighs fell open automatically. She clung to him as he edged inside, his teeth nipping at her ear, then at the pulse point on her neck. Sometimes it almost made her cry, how sweetly he rocked against her, never rushing, always giving her body time to adjust to the intrusion. But that night a different kind of passion struck a match deep in her belly. Suddenly she didn't want slow. She wanted hard. She wanted fast. She wanted to feel him, really feel him, as deep as he could go.

Her fingers dug into his ass, her ankles pressing into the back of his legs urging him on. "Oliver," she groaned. "Please."

He picked up the pace. Felicity's hips rose to meet every thrust. Her whole body was on fire, from the crown of her head all the way down to her toes. "Oh god," she gasped as he stroked a spot deep inside her that had never been touched before. "Oh god. Don't stop. Don't stop. Don't stop."

The sound of skin slapping against skin took over the small room, drowning out the ocean, drowning out even their gasps and moans. He rode her to her peak and she came with a shout right before he followed her over the edge, collapsing on top of her with a groan. Afterward they just lay there, limbs tangled together, as a sweet smelling breeze drifting across the windowsill, skittering across their cooling skin.

"Wow," Felicity said. "That was…wow." Oliver made a muffled sound of agreement from where his face was buried in her neck. She poked his cheek. "Hey, you okay in there?"

He turned his face turned her. "Okay would be an understatement."

She grinned, running her hands up and down his arms. "That's good right?"

"Very good. Very, very good. I love Bali. I love you. I love being inside you in Bali."

Felicity giggled. "I love you being inside me in Bali." Her smile faltered. "We're leaving tomorrow."

"We'll come back," he said, kissing her lips, wanting to coax back her smile. "Lots of times."

"Promise?"

He kissed her again. There was no doubt in his voice when he said, "I promise."

Felicity woke up in the hospital to the sound of her heart monitor beeping softly. Oliver was sitting in the chair by her bed, just watching her.

She smiled instinctively at the sight of him, her abused and aching body momentarily forgotten. "How long have you been sitting there?"

Oliver leaned forward, arms resting on his knees. "Not nearly long enough. What were you dreaming about?"

"Bali," she said honestly. "How you let that monkey make off with my sunglasses."

He chuckled. "Well, good thing we're going back. When we do I'll have a talk with that monkey. He'll give the glasses back if he knows what's good for him." He hesitated. "You still wanna go back?"

"Yeah," she said softy. "I'd go anywhere with you."

He nodded, trying to blink back the tears that had suddenly sprung into his eyes. He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her cool forehead. "Go back to sleep. I'll be here when you wake up."

Her eyes were already fluttering closed.

Felicity dreamed of endless afternoons lying on the beach beneath the pounding sun. She dreamed of the water lapping around her waist as she waded into the ocean, and of Oliver's sharp laughter when she squealed at the sight of a crab darting toward her. She dreamed of his arms scooping her out of the water, throwing her over his shoulder, as he promised to protect her from angry crustaceans. She dreamed of his lips on hers, the taste of the ocean between them.

She dreamed.


End file.
